Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether recent progress has been made towards opening the Kerem Shalom border crossing into Gaza for humanitarian aid.

The UK Government welcomes Israel's opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing for humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza, including food, water, medicine and shelter. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary were among the first to call on Israel to do this, including with Prime Minister Netanyahu. Significantly more aid needs to reach Gaza to address the humanitarian crisis. As the Foreign Secretary has set out, Israel must take steps, working with other partners including the UN and Egypt, to significantly increase the flow of aid into Gaza, including extending the opening hours and capacity of the Kerem Shalom checkpoint so more trucks, aid and fuel can enter Gaza, and open the crossing seven days a week. The British Government continues to discuss and press for the action that needs to be taken to increase aid to Gaza in his regular calls with his Israeli, Egyptian, Jordanian, Lebanese, US and Palestinian Authority counterparts.